WATCH: Police raid eleven counterfeit credit card ‘factories’ in Spain

POLICE in Spain have dismantled a huge fake debit, credit and fuel card fraud ring that is estimated to have stolen more than €500,000.

They raided 21 houses and seized more 15,000 counterfeit blank cards and devices to write information to the cards.

Four luxury cars were seized as well as €20,000 in cash.

The successful operation also saw police dismantle 11 ‘factories’ that produced the fraudulent cards.

The counterfeit fuel credit and debit cards were sold to lorry drivers and haulage companies to avoid paying toll fees.

Approximately 30,000 fraudulent transactions were linked to counterfeit cards that were used to cross toll barriers in Spain and France in a three-month period.

Operation ANDREA identified the license plates of more than 600 vehicles that were registered in Spain.

As a result of the cooperation between Europol, the Fuel Industry Card Fraud Intelligence Bureau (FICFIB), the Spanish authorities and the French Gendarmerie, 24 people were arrested.